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President of Syria

The president of Syria (Arabic: رئيس سوريا), officially the president of the Syrian Arab Republic (Arabic: رئيس الجمهورية العربية السورية), is the head of state of the Syrian Arab Republic. They are vested with sweeping powers that may be delegated, at their sole discretion to their vice presidents. They appoint and dismiss the prime minister and other members of the Council of Ministers (the cabinet) and military officers.[2] Bashar al-Assad is the 19th and current president of Syria. He entered the post on 17 July 2000. Bashar Al-Assad is the son of former president, Hafez al-Assad, who was the longest-serving president, serving 29 years.

Term of office

Article 88 of the 2012 constitution states that the president serves a seven year term and "can be elected for only one more successive term."[3][4] Article 155 states that Article 88 applies to the president "as of the next presidential elections."[3]

Eligibility criteria

On 31 January 1973, Hafez al-Assad implemented a new constitution, which led to a national crisis. Unlike previous constitutions, this one did not require that the president of Syria must be a Muslim, leading to fierce demonstrations in Hama, Homs and Aleppo organized by the Muslim Brotherhood and the ulama. They labeled Assad as the "enemy of God" and called for a jihad against his rule.[5] Robert D. Kaplan has compared Assad's coming to power to "an untouchable becoming maharajah in India or a Jew becoming tsar in Russia—an unprecedented development shocking to the Sunni majority population which had monopolized power for so many centuries."[6] The main objection to the constitution from demonstrators was that Islam was not specified as the state religion.[7] In response to riots, the Syrian Constitution of 1973 was amended to stipulate that Islam was the religion of the president.[7]

A new constitution was approved in February 2012.[8] Article 84 of Syria's 2012 constitution requires that candidates for the presidency must:[3]

  1. Be at least 40 years old
  2. Be Syrian by birth, of parents who are Syrians by birth
  3. Enjoy civil and political rights and not convicted of a dishonorable felony, even if he was reinstated
  4. Not be married to a non-Syrian wife
  5. Have lived in Syria for 10 years continuously upon nomination

Further eligibility requirements in the 2012 constitution include:[3]

Powers and removal

Powers[9]

Removal[9]

List of presidents

Latest election

References

  1. ^ Article 88 of the Syrian Constitution
  2. ^ "Syria - The President and the Cabinet".
  3. ^ a b c d "Syrian Arab Republic's Constitution of 2012" (PDF). ConstituteProject.org. February 26, 2012. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  4. ^ "Qordoba - Translation of the Syrian Constitution Modifications 15-2-2012 | Citizenship | Presidents Of The United States". Scribd. Retrieved 2020-12-01.
  5. ^ Alianak 2007, p. 55.
  6. ^ Kaplan, Robert (February 1993). "Syria: Identity Crisis". The Atlantic.
  7. ^ a b "Further rioting in Syria reported". The New York Times. February 28, 1973.
  8. ^ MacFarquhar, Neil; Cowell, Alan (February 27, 2012). "Syrians Said to Approve Charter as Battles Go On". The New York Times.
  9. ^ a b "Constitutional history of Syria". constitutionniet.org. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
  10. ^ "Dr. Bashar al-Assad elected President of the Syrian Arab Republic with the majority of votes". Syrian Arab News Agency. 28 May 2021. Retrieved 27 May 2021.

External links